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Title: Coastliners
Author: Joanne Harris
Narrator: Paula Wilcox
Format: Abridged
Length: 2 hrs and 6 mins
Language: English
Release date: 08-03-06
Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
Passionate, stubborn Mado tries to save the livelihoods of the villagers of Les Salants by urging them to work together to save the beach from erosion, both natural and man-made. The villagers eventually cooperate with the help of Flynn, a charismatic stranger with a shady past.
Then there¿s her father, taciturn Grosjean, as "prickly and tightly layered as an artichoke", and local, wealthy businessman Brismand who also seems to be hiding something. Mado must unravel these mysteries, while attempting to keep a hold on her own sense of self in this claustrophobic, close community.
Critic Reviews:
"A writer of tremendous charm...A winning blend of fairy-tale morality and gritty realism." (Independent)
Members Reviews:
Always fascinating
Joanne Harris captured my attention many years ago. While cleaning out some closets recently, I found her books (I have almost all of them) and decided to re-read. The proved to be even more fascinating and riveting than before. Not only are her story lines unusual and unpredictable, but Harris also displays an in-depth knowledge about her topics, whether it is the art of chocolate-making (Chocolat, etc.) or the more technical details of boat repair and other workshop-related themes.
The only thing I disliked about this book was the fact that it ended without revealing more about how the two main characters continued their lives.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys non-mainstream story lines.
Not a foodie book, just a straight novel
We've become so accustomed to Joanne Harris's books being focused on a sensual food theme that it's hard, at first, to get used to the straightforward storytelling on Coastliners. There's also not her usual fairy, eerie, other-worldly quality to this one.
But it's a good story with a bit of a mystery woven in from the very beginning: who is Flynn, really, and what's he doing at this godforsaken end of a small island in France?
Protagonist Madeleine Prasteau leaves Paris after her mother's death and returns to Les Salants, the village of her birth, where she discovers her father monosyllabic (and that's on a good day) and fading fast - as is the entire village. Madeleine determines to take on responsibility for not just her father and his wreck of a home, but also for the entire village. She somehow pulls warring factions together to build a floating reef to help sand be redeposited on the old beach, hoping for less flooding, better fishing, and more tourists. But that's not all: there are lots of side stories, family history, undercurrents - and romance.
A really good read, tho it's a little confusing to keep all the patois French names straight at first.
Take a trip.....
Couldn't put it down! Well written.
Will purchase this author again.
Debbie B.
Rochester Hills, MI
Boil, boil, toil and tribute
Joanne Harris is a witch--and I'm spellbound. A tale of tides, flotsam and jetsam, water's both kissing and slamming the shore, its withdrawal to boredom and silent seas, the unpredictability of currents, changing winds, stale pools, all of which are featured in not only the plot of the story but in how the story's told, Coastliners casts a spell upon the reader who can't help but feel like Arthur manipulated by the magic of a benevolent mystic.
